A Very Vampire Diaries XMas Special
by TheQuietGem
Summary: What if Elena died? In a scrooge-like Chrimstas special, in order to make Elena want to live, Stefan must force Elena to visit an alternative future where her death has gravely impacted all that ever loved her.


"**A Very Vampire diaries X-mAS Special"**

**by **

**L.A.B.**

FADE In:

X-Mas holiday music chimes away.

Elena is hanging up mistletoe near a lit fireplace. Jeremy and Bonnie are decorating an evergreen. Caroline walks in, arms full of presents.

Caroline

Ta-da!

Bonnie smiles and helps Caroline happily tuck the presents underneath the tree. Elena sighs.

Elena

This just doesn't feel right, you know...

Jeremy

Come on, Elena. This was your idea. Get in the holiday spirit, cheer us up.

Caroline

Jeremy's right. We all need a little Christmas cheer.

Elena

But it's all so weird, so different from last year...

Stefan was in her life last year is what she meant. Ever since he derailed and left Mystic Falls, Elena was left with fragments of a past life. She was confused and while surrounded by people who loved her, she felt alone. Elena begins thinking to herself, "_What if I were gone?"_ She looks at Bonnie, Jeremy and Caroline. _"Would their lives be happier, better without me?" _

Bonnie

You know what'll cheer you up?

Elena

Huh? What?

Bonnie

Grannie's homemade ginger bread men.

She hands Elena a box of beautifully decorated ginger bread. Immediately, she notices that the top cookie has been altered and a pair of pointy teeth dipped in read had been added...

Damon

You like?

Damon enters the room smirking at Elena holding the vampire gingerbread. For the first time that evening, Elena smiles back. Damon picks up the cookie and dances it around, making her giggle in amusement. Caroline notices.

Caroline

Now that's more like it. If a vampire cookie can make you smile, than I guess there's hope yet for you!

Bonnie ::WHISPERING TO JEREMY::

I don't think it's the cookie that's making her smile...

Elena

Okay, okay, fine. I don't hate the holidays. It's just-

Damon

Contrived, pointless, stupid. I get, trust me. But, there are some perks.

Damon winks and nods to the mistletoe.

Damon

Come on, now, it's tradition. Pucker up.

Caroline

Stop it, Damon.

Damon smirks and stares into Elena's eyes. She doesn't turn away and looks as if she is thinking about upholding the holiday tradition. As Damon leans in closer, a CRASH is heard. Glass shatters from the nearby window causing everyone to jump.

Elena

What was that?

Damon

I don't know... Stay here.

Both Damon and Caroline move swiftly to the window area across the room. A dark shadow flies into the room, colliding with Damon and Caroline and knocking them to the floor. Just as they are about to get up, they sit still, frozen in place. Elena looks at their motionless bodies and then to Bonnie and Jeremy, also still.

Elena

What's going on!

Smiling, eyes dark, Stefan appears.

Stefan

Miss me?

Fade Out:

commercial break

lalala, car commerical, boring... boring... oh, it's back!

Fade In:

Elena

Stefan... I thought you were-

Stefan

Gone forever? Well, yes and no. You remember, Elena, that Klaus gave me very specific instructions. He needs you alive.

Elena

I'm not going anywhere... Let them go.

Stefan

Oh now, don't lie, Elena. You've been thinking some very naughty thoughts lately. When you were planning on telling them?

Elena

What are you talking about?

Stefan

Elena, you're planning on disappearing, vanishing, leaving this life... Not sure how you're going to do it yet, but all you know is that everyone you love has been hurt by you. They've bled for you and-

Stefan turns to point out Damon who sits struggling on the floor, trying to move with all his might. His veins begin to pop, sweat trickling down his forehand. He moves maybe an inch in agonizing pain.

Stefan

And they continue to bleed for you, as long as you're alive.

Elena

What do you want from me, Stefan? Do you want me to promise that'll I stay put? I will. Just leave them alone... Please.

Stefan

Oh, I'll make you promise all right. But first, you need to understand why you can't leave.

Elena

I get it. Klaus wants me alive.

Stefan

He needs your blood, Elena! And there is only one way I can make sure you stay alive.

Stefan motions toward Elena and grabs her by the shoulders.

Stefan

Hang on tight.

_All of sudden Elena sees her world shift around her and within an instant, she is at the Salvatore mansion. Everything seems real and yet, something has changed._

Elena

What are you doing? Is this a trick?

Stefan

You need to learn a lesson. And no, this is real. Well, real for them.

Stefan motions his hand to a couch sitting in the middle of the room. A pale, motionless body lays on the couch. Damon runs into the room, his eyes frantic and wild.

Damon

Elena! Elena!

Elena

I'm right here, Damon!

Stefan

He can't hear you. You do not exist, remember.

Damon

Elena... Oh, god. No! No!

_Damon screams, seeing what he believes to be Elena's dead body on the couch, her blood drained._

Damon

No! No...

_He cries, falling to the floor. Body quivering, his face contorted in pain, Damon grabs Elena's cold dead hand and checks for a pulse. He grimaces and lets out a howl, unlike anything heard before._

Elen_a_

He thinks I'm dead...

Stefan

You are dead... To everyone who ever loved you. This is what you wanted.

Elena

He's in so much pain.

stefan

You have no idea.

Damon

Elena... I'm so sorry...

_Damon, tears streaking down his face, leans in to kiss the dead Elena. He slowly moves away from the body and screams._

Damon

Elena, if you can hear me, Elena... I, I love you. I'm sorry...

Elena

I can hear you, Damon. Please, stop this, Stefan! I don't want to see this.

Stefan

But you need to! Keep watching.

_Damon walks over to a wooden chest near the doorway and unlatches it. Inside is a long, wooden spik_e.

Elena

What is he doing...

Stefan

Just keep watching.

Elena

No, he's not... Damon! Oh, no, Damon, I'm not dead. CAN YOU HEAR ME? DAMON! Stop this, right now, Stefan! Please... stop it!

_Damon raises the wooden spike to the air._

Damon

And with this love we shall not part...

Elena

O, Damon, no!

_Damon stabs himself with the wooden spike through the heart. His body begins to change in color, to a pale green and then black like ash. And he crumbles to the ground._

Elena

NOO! Oh god, no. No. Damon...

_Elena cries, trying to reach out to him, but it's too late._

Stefan

Ready for some more?

Elena

He killed himself...

_Elena can barely talk, tears choking her reddened face_.

Stefan

What did you think would happen? He would move on without you? Damon truly loved you, even in his darkest times.

Elena

I get it now... You can make this all stop. Reverse what you've done.

stefan

Oh, we're just getting started.

_Fade Out:_

_commercial break_

_lalala, car commerical, boring... boring... oh, it's back!_

Fade in:

_Stefan and Elena are inside Elena's home on the second floor, but the house looks different, neglected and messy. A very different looking Jeremy and Bonnie search through hundreds of spell books scattered on the floor. Bonnie looks exhausted and dangerously thin. Jeremy looks older, and somehow hallow in the face, numb instead._

Stefan

Not everyone kills themselves when you're gone, Elena. Some spend the rest of their lives trying to bring you back. Just look.

Bonnie

Keep looking, Jer.

Jeremy

I'm tired of looking, Bonnie. She's gone. It's been fifteen years... And we've tried everything.

Bonnie

I brought you back to life, remember. I can do it again. I just need to try harder.

Jeremy

You're just hurting yourself. Bonnie, please.

Bonnie

Ok, give up, like you always do.

Jeremy

What is that supposed to mean?

Bonnie

When Elena died, I was the one who searched through heaven and hell to find her. I used up all of my magic, Jer, and you- you went off and got high on drugs.

Jeremy

Hey, I've had to deal with all of this-vampires, ghosts, witches, the best way I could. Elena once told me you can't love a ghost. Well, that's what we're doing, what we've been doing. Bonnie, I came back 'cause I thought I could help you. But I can't. Goodbye.

Bonnie

Then just leave me! Leave me again! Like I care, I don't care!

_Bonnie, exhausted, collapses to the floor, shaking. Jeremy holds her frail body and cries with her._

Jeremy

I want to miss her as much as you do. I want to feel again. I don't feel anything. I can't.

_Elena watched the scene unfold, like an audience member watching a play. They couldn't see her, but she felt their pain, watched their suffering. Stefan took her hand._

Stefan

Even with your death, your friends, your loved ones continue to love you, to try and protect you.

Elena

Bonnie, she looks so ill. And Jeremy, he's like a whole other person.

Stefan

Wonder how blondie is holding up.

Elena

Caroline?

Stefan

She'll have life times upon life times to think about you, what you did to her.

Elena

What I did...?

Stefan

Of course. Without you, she'd never met your doubleganger, Katherine. She'd never be what she is today. Let's go say hi to dear old Caroline.

_Fade Out:_

_commercial break (come on, it's vampire diaries, there are like a million commercials...)_

_lalala, car commerical, boring... boring... oh, it's back!_

Fade in:

_Caroline stands on top of a gravestone wearing a tight black dress, kitten heels and black lace veil. She holds flowers in her hand._

Caroline

Hi, Matt.

_Caroline places the flowers on top of Matt's grave._

Caroline

You'd be, what, 58 today? Time sure flies by when you're, well, like me. I miss you, Matt.

Elena

Caroline, she's alive. But, how did this happen? When did Matt- die?

Stefan

You should know, Elena. Like you, Matt was human. He got old. He died of a heart attack. Probably all the stress of trying to live a 'normal' life.

Elena

And Caroline?

Stefan

His fiancé. Well, would you call her an almost widow now?

Caroline

Oh, Matt. I wish I could have grown old with you. Gotten gray like you. Had a full life with you. Matt, I love you.

Elena

I took that away from her, a normal life. And even if I were alive, this would still happen? Why show me this?

Stefan

The problem isn't that Caroline is a vampire, Elena. Without you, she didn't know how to have a normal life. She was engaged for 40 years, never committed, never giving herself a chance.

Elena

How sad.

Stefan

Suffering takes all forms, Elena. Some take their own lives, some waste their whole life and others never truly know how to live. But you, Elena, you gave them all a purpose.

Elena

Purpose? Tell me, what is my purpose, Stefan? You are doing all of this to show me that I need to live. But like you said, Klaus only wants me alive for my blood. I'm dead either way.

Stefan

Klaus has no intentions of killing you. He wants you alive for as long as he lives.

Elena

But Klaus is immortal.

Stefan

Exactly. You can't die if you need to be around for all time.

Elena

I'm human. I'm mortal, Stefan.

Stefan

Are you really?

_The graveyard disappears and Elena and Stefan are back in the present time. Only, the window is not broken. Bonnie and Jeremy are decorating the x-mas tree as holiday music plays throughout the house. Caroline stood in the doorway, arms full of presents with Damon right behind her, holding the door. He then enters the room with a smirk on his face._

Stefan

Remember what you saw, what you felt. You need to want to live.

Elena

I do want to live. I want to live for _them._

Stefan

Good.

_And with that, Stefan was gone and Elena stood next to the fireplace hanging up mistletoe._

Bonnie

You know what'll cheer you up?

Elena

What? Huh?

Bonnie

Grannie's homemade ginger bread men.

_She hands Elena a box of beautifully decorated ginger bread. Elena looks around, confused. What had just happened? What that the future that would come if she were not around? Elena looks at the cookie and once again notices that the top cookie has been altered and a pair of pointy teeth dipped in read had been added..._

Damon

Do you like it? Thought it added some much needed flare.

_Damon enters the room smirking at Elena. Elena smiles at him, seeing him alive. Damon picks up the cookie just like before and dances it around, making Elena giggle in amusement. Caroline notices._

Caroline

Now that's more like it. If a vampire cookie can make you smile, than I guess there's hope yet for you!

Bonnie ::WHISPERING TO JEREMY::

I don't think it's the cookie that's making her smile... Right, Jeremy?

Jeremy

Whatever makes her happy, well, makes me happy.

Bonnie

I guess so. You know what makes me happy? You.

Jeremy

Right back at ya.

_Jeremy and Bonnie kiss, embracing each other while Elena continues giggling at Damon's cookie dance._

Elena

That's cute, Damon.

Damon

Cute? Of course I am. Thanks for noticing.

_Damon winks and nods to the mistletoe_.

Damon

Lookie here. My favorite holiday tradition. Come on now, pucker up.

Caroline

Stop it, Damon.

_Damon smirks and stares into Elena's eyes. She doesn't turn away and instead, stares back at them, remembering the pain she would cause him if she ever left. And then something Stefan said rang through her mind. 'He's loved you, even through his darkest times.' In his darkest time, Stefan followed Klaus like a puppy. But Damon, he was different._

Damon

Oh, come on now. Just one little kiss.

_Elena smiled and to Damon's surprise, Elena leaned in and kissed him. Damon's eyes widened and his face softened. The kiss lasted longer than just a quick pec. It was a kiss that Elena felt she couldn't let go of. It felt real. It felt amazing._

Caroline

Wow. That must be some mistletoe.

_At the end of the kiss, Elena and Damon moved only slightly away from each other, their faces touching in a warm embrace. Damon's blue eyes deepened as he stared at Elena._

Damon

I hope I'm not dreaming.

Elena

This is real, Damon.

Damon

It sure is.

FIN


End file.
